Monday, January 28

You usually do not get to see this round building. This rotunda hosts the biggest painting in the Netherlands, the Panorama Mesdag. It is a huge cylindrical painting (>14 meters high and 120 meters round). From an observation gallery in the centre of the room the cylindrical perspective creates the illusion that the viewer is on a high sand dune overlooking the sea, beaches and village of Scheveningen in the late 19th century. It is painted in 1881 by one of the most famous painters of the Hague School, Hendrik Willem Mesdag.

It is the oldest 19th century panorama in the world in its original site as it is housed in a purpose-built museum. The current building of the new Hilton hotel next to it, and its new underground parking is posing many problems to the building as it appears to suffer from some subsidence (already reaching 1cm). Its director announced today that The Hague city council would be directly blamed in case of further damage to the rotunda and the painting as they agreed to the building permit...

Hurry up and visit the museum before it closes for safety reasons!!!! It is forbidden to make photos inside, but if you want a preview, just click here.